The Little Gestures
by avintagerose
Summary: Damar has no idea how to lead a resistance cell, so he calls on Kira Nerys to help him out. However, he finds he doesn't hate the woman quite as much as he used to. In fact, there might be a bit more there than he thought...
1. The Cooling Unit

A/N: Yeah, I pretty much love Damar by now, haha. My title sucks but it was the best I could come up with.

Story Title: The Little Gestures

Rating: PG to PG-13

Pairings: Damar/Kira, Odo/Kira

Chapter 1

The cooling unit was a small gesture, but, Damar hoped, a meaningful one.

He couldn't help but think of the last time he'd seen Major Kira. Or Colonel. Or Commander. Whatever the hell she called herself these days. Back on Terok Nor, when Gul Dukat had been in command, it seemed that all Damar did was fight Kira in one way or another.

From the moment he'd come onto the station he'd sensed nothing but hostility from her, and, to be perfectly honest, that was the only thing he showed her. It was as if she represented everything he fought against. He didn't care if she wore a Starfleet uniform or not, she was still the embodiment of everything he hated.

And now, here she was, clothed in a Starfleet uniform, even more the embodiment of everything he had hated in the past. But he could no longer afford the luxury of hating the Federation, or Bajor. They were his only chance. She was his only chance.

Oh, how he hated having to accept help from Garak, from Sisko, from _her. _He longed for the days when he was Dukat's right hand man, and the galaxy seemed to fall before them. The days before the Dominion, when it was just them versus the Klingons. They would sit on the bridge passing a bottle of kanar back and forth, dreaming of the greatness that they would bring back to Cardassia.

The strangest thing was, they had brought greatness back to Cardassia. For a time, Dukat's name was known in every house from Sol to Qo'nos, and never was it spoken without fear. And when Dukat had lost his mind, Damar's name replaced it. But at what cost?

The look in Dukat's eyes as he held his dying daughter was what haunted Damar the most. When he had fired the weapon he had been so sure that he was in the right. He even half expected Dukat to thank him one day. He didn't expect for his mentor, his leader, his comrade... his friend... to completely lose his mind. And even now he couldn't dismiss the horror and despair in Dukat's eyes, the sad moan in his voice as he pleaded with his daughter, pleaded for her life. That strong rock, the one that Damar believed would never be broken, had been utterly shattered by none other than Damar himself.

Even the hint of this memory made Damar want to rush to the storage rooms to see if there was any kanar left. The thick liquid always helped him forget. But the very thought of kanar made Damar jerk his eyes back to the console and take a deep breath. Dominion troop movements, resistance cell positions. He couldn't drink, not now. Cardassia needed him, now more than ever.

But his mind kept wandering back to Kira. Why was that? When Garak had told him she was coming, he'd been filled with dread, even loathing. But he had to respect her, support her. At least, in front of his men he did. In front of Rusot, especially; he did not understand why Damar was doing this.

But when she had walked into his command center... He didn't remember her being so pretty. Defiant, stubborn, annoying, to say the least, but pretty? He couldn't deny it. She was beautiful... for a Bajoran, anyway. At least she hadn't been wearing that ridiculous Bajoran uniform. Instead she was wearing that ridiculous Starfleet uniform, but it didn't upset his men quite as much as the Bajoran one would have.

It had taken some doing to get the cooling unit, but he knew she would need it. Cardassians liked to keep the room a good fifteen degrees warmer than was comfortable for most other humanoids. Why he felt like being so thoughtful was a bit of a mystery to him as well as to his men. A large part of him wanted to make her stay as uncomfortable as possible. After all, she had, on one occasion, attacked him and left him with some nasty bruises and a fracture along his eye socket.

Perhaps that was the reason he respected her so much. He had to admit that she had considerable prowess in hand-to-hand combat. And she knew how to fight against the odds. Damar knew nothing about guerilla warfare. He and Dukat had taken on the entire Klingon empire with one ship, but that was entirely different. They hadn't been fighting for freedom so much as for pride and glory. Every victory was one step closer to greatness. Now, every victory was one step further from oblivion. Damar didn't care about glory anymore, he didn't care about greatness or pride. All he cared about was freeing Cardassia. And right now, Kira Nerys was his best hope for doing that.


	2. Bickering

A/N: All the characters belong to Paramount, as does some of the dialogue.

She was doing it again. Scolding. Or at least, she was about to be, Damar could tell.

"The explosion began in the intercooler matrix. Your men were supposed to put the bomb here, in the secondary plasma relay," Kira said. She was calm, but Damar knew Rusot would argue. He was getting tired of the incessant bickering, but there was really no way for him to get his men to accept the Bajoran. His fellow Cardassians were too prideful to accept help, especially from a Bajoran.

He tried not to think about how many Cardassians she had probably killed during the Occupation. He was having a hard enough time sorting out his feelings concerning her. One moment, he hated her and wanted nothing more than to be rid of her, once and for all, but the next, all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and...

He let the thought trail off.

"What difference does it make? The ship was still destroyed," Rusot replied.

"The intercooler's an obvious choice for sabotage," replied Garak. "Their security checks could've..."

Damar blocked out what Garak was saying. He knew perfectly well how his men had failed. To tell the truth, he wanted to discipline the men himself. Dukat had taught him to be an involved leader, to take responsibility for both the victories and the defeats. He knew Rusot was in error.

Yet Rusot was one of the few friends he had left. Almost all of the others were either dead, insane, or still in league with the Dominion. If he sided with Kira one more time, he might lose Rusot as an ally. No one knew better than Damar how dangerous Rusot could be.

Kira's voice snapped him back to the conversation. "That's not the point. Your men ignored their instructions and their training."

Damar could tell that Rusot was about to say something more. It was time to intervene. "Let us not lose sight of the fact that the mission was a success," he said, attempting to defend his friend.

"It was a success because the Jem'Hadar security slipped up and we got lucky." She turned back to Rusot. "Don't use those men again for anything except routine reconnaissance."

"They're five of my best men! Bronok is one of the most experienced--"

Garak winced. "You've been told before--no names!"

Damar could see that Kira was losing her patience with Rusot. "Every cell has to be insulated from the cell above and below. If I know the names of your men and I'm captured..."

"I've heard the lecture," Rusot replied.

"Then you shouldn't have to be reminded!"

Rusot took a step forward. Damar put a hand on his shoulder, endeavoring to keep calm. "It's been a long day. Why don't we take a break?" It was more of an order than a question.

Rusot seemed to consider for a moment. "Good idea. The air in here is getting stale."

As Rusot left, Kira turned to Damar. "Are you going to do something about him?"

Damar felt like scoffing, but kept his calm demeanor in spite of it. What did she expect him to do, take Rusot out and beat him? Besides, Rusot was his friend, and Damar was not about to forget that he and Kira had been bitter enemies not a month ago. "I am. I'm giving him my support." Their eyes locked. Damar tried not to show it, but staring her down was getting harder and harder the more time he spent with her. Luckily for him, after a moment, she seemed to back down.

"All right."

The conversation was over, and Damar needed to have a chat with Rusot. He left Kira, and tried to find his comrade. He only had to search briefly. Rusot was in the supply room, hunting for something to eat. As Damar entered, Rusot turned, looked at him briefly, then returned to his search. "How long do you expect me to put up with that _Bajoran_?"

"As long as you still dream of a free Cardassia."

Rusot turned toward him. "We don't need her or the Federation!"

"We do if we want to survive. You know that as well as I," Damar said. He picked up an unidentified can and turned it over in his hands. "Our men did violate their orders."

The muscles in Rusot's jaw worked. "Yes, they did," he said, through gritted teeth. "But I refuse to relegate them to reconnaissance. They're better than that!"

"They disobeyed their orders. There have to be consequences for that," Damar replied.

"And what will those _consequences_ be?" Rusot asked, practically spitting.

"They're your men, Rusot. You decide."

Rusot considered for a moment. "Perhaps a brief stint in reconnassaince would not be too harsh a punishment."

"Perhaps not." Damar turned to leave.

"Just... don't tell Kira."

Damar turned back and smiled slightly. "I don't intend to."

What did the humans call it? Reverse psychology? Damar chuckled quietly as he left the supply room.


	3. The Plan

"...and according to our new contact on Kelvas Five, the Breen will begin installing their energy dampening weapons about Jem'Hadar fighters within a week," Garak said.

"Has the Federation made any progress counteracting these weapons?" Damar asked. He felt a twinge of regret that he hadn't waited long enough to get information on those weapons before initiating his rebellion.

"They're still having trouble understanding the underlying technology," Kira replied.

"Why aren't the Klingon ships affected by these Breen weapons?" he asked.

"We don't know that yet either." Kira thought for a moment. "But, if we could supply the Federation with one, it would give them a chance to come up with a countermeasure."

"I had the same thought," Garak agreed.

"Our priority should be to free Cardassia from the Dominion," Rusot protested, "not to do Starfleet's dirty work."

Damar was tiring of Rusot's constant combativeness. He could only imagine how annoyed Kira was getting. He felt as though he was constantly caught between those two. "We're all in this together. By helping Starfleet, we're helping ourselves." Rusot clearly didn't like the answer, but at least he wasn't going to argue about it. Damar couldn't help but wonder how long Rusot was going to put up with Kira. He was bound to make a move against her sooner or later.

Kira didn't seem to have heard their little exchange, however. "There's a Cardassian repair facility in the Kelvas System, right?" she asked Garak.

"Yes. I take it you have something in mind?" the tailor replied.

"It won't be easy... but if we can get onto the bridge... All right. We'll use a five-man team. The four of us, plus Odo. Garak, I'll need everything we have on the Kelvas facility," Kira said. Garak seemed hesitant, however. "Something wrong?"

"Possibly... could I have a few words with the commander?"

Damar nodded. It probably had something to do with Odo. The shapeshifter had seemed out of sorts ever since Kira and her team had arrived. He could also see by the way the two interacted that there was something a bit more between them than friendship. They never showed it openly, not to the Cardassians, but Damar could see it in the way she looked at Odo. He'd never been very good at reading people, women especially, but Kira was clearly preoccupied with the changeling. Yet it wasn't only love he saw in her eyes. There was some pain there, too.

"What do you think is wrong with the shapeshifter?" Rusot asked.

Damar was a bit thrown off by this question. He hadn't expected that Rusot's thinking would be similar to his own. "I'm not sure."

"He seems... exhausted."

"Perhaps whatever was affecting the Founder is affecting him."

"That doesn't bode well for Commander Kira," Rusot said, almost sounding like he enjoyed it.

Damar nodded silently. If it was the disease that was affecting the Founders, Odo still looked pretty good, comparatively.

Before long, Kira and Garak returned. Damar studied her face. She appeared to be perfectly calm. Whatever it was, it must not be too serious. But then, Kira was a difficult woman to read. The only clear signal he'd ever gotten from her was hostility.

"All right, we're going to need a Cardassian shuttle with up-to-date security protocols..."


	4. What Kind of People Give Those Orders?

Damar was about to punch some of the buttons on the runabout's replicator when Garak entered the small compartment. "You may want to hold off on that," Garak said, his voice surprisingly soft.

Damar stared at him, confused. Garak held out a PADD, avoiding eye contact. Whatever this was, it couldn't be good. He took the PADD and began to read its contents. It was one of his contacts from Cardassia. The message chilled Damar to the bone.

"_Damar-_

_It is my painful duty to inform you that the Dominion has tracked down your family._

_They were found and executed last night._

_My deepest sympathies._"

He stared at the PADD for a moment. It was so cold, so impersonal, but Damar was relieved that the message did not contain details or flowery protestations of grief. It was simple and straightforward.

He took a deep breath to preserve his calm facade, but inside he was being ripped apart. He barely noticed as Kira came in a pushed a few buttons on the replicator. After a moment, she seemed to notice that something had happened.

"What's wrong?"

"One of our listening posts picked up a message that the Dominion has succeeded has succeeded in locating Damar's family," Garak replied.

"They're dead," Damar said, as much to tell himself as to tell her. He still couldn't believe it. "My wife and I... she was a difficult woman. Selfish. Stubborn. But she wasn't part of this rebellion. The Dominion knew that. The Founder knew that. Weyoun knew that. To kill her and my son..." He thought for a moment. He had underestimated the cruelty of the Dominion. And he and Dukat were responsible for their foothold in this quadrant. "The... casual brutality of it. The waste of life." What had they done? What kind of evil had they introduced into the Alpha Quadrant? "What kind of state tolerates the murder of innocent women and children? What kind of people give those orders?"

As if nothing could make it worse, Kira finally spoke up, and said something that cut Damar straight to the heart. "Yeah, Damar, what kind of people give those orders?"

He was immediately filled with rage. What did she know of loss?! Had she ever had a child? Had she ever lost a spouse?! He was about to knock her on her arrogant Bajoran--

Bajoran. Occupation. Gallitepp. He stopped, and his eyes locked with hers. Perhaps she understood better than anyone else what he had just experienced. Of course she had never lost a child, but she had seen the results of orders like the order to kill his wife and son.

The revelation hit him almost as if he had been on the firing line with his family. He and Dukat hadn't introduced a new kind of evil. They'd merely added to what was already there. He dropped the PADD and headed for the cockpit, sitting in the pilot's seat.

What kind of people give those orders?

People like Dukat. Damar had never been to Bajor. He hadn't been stationed there during the Occupation; all he'd seen were the glorified reports that Central Command released. But once, while he was stationed on the border of Cardassian space, he'd encountered a Bajoran, an old man who told him the truth. Of course, Damar discounted it at the time, but as the years passed and he encountered more and more Bajorans he began to doubt whether Central Command had been entirely honest regarding the situation on Bajor. He'd seen too many Bajorans with scars, too many Bajorans with missing families.

What kind of people give those orders?

_People like me_, he thought.

"We're approaching the rendezvous point," said Odo.

Damar snapped back to the present situation. He had to focus. He was still the leader of the Cardassian Resistance, and the Dominion would not succeed in breaking him. He would not let them. His team needed him. His people needed him. The wives and sons of his people needed him. He punched a few buttons and the runabout dropped out of warp.

"The shuttle is here," Odo said.

"Right on time, just as I promised," Rusot replied.

Damar could see the shuttle through his window. "Damar to shuttle. Lower your shields and we'll beam aboard."

A voice came over the com. "Acknowledged. Shields down."

He turned to the others. "Let's go."


	5. The Jem'Hadar Vessel

"Good luck... Legate Damar."

Damar froze, his eyes locked with Vornar's. An ally? This whole time as he, Kira, Garak, and Rusot had been trying to get onto this Jem'Hadar fighter, he'd been deathly afraid of being recognized. Any Cardassian within a thousand light years would know his face. And he'd been recognized, just as he feared. But this soldier was a loyal Cardassian. The Cardassian gave him an affirming nod, and Damar nodded back.

His feelings were mixed as he stepped over the threshold into the Jem'Hadar vessel. On the one hand, this one soldier gave him hope. A Gil here, a Glinn there, and they might have the Dominion driven from Cardassian soil sooner than he had thought.

But he knew he didn't deserve such blind loyalty. If Vornar only knew how Damar had come by his position, how he had killed the daughter of his closest friend to get there...

Damar shook his head. Whether he deserved their loyalty or not was irrelevant. He had it, and it was vital that he not betray the trust of his people, no matter how misplaced.

The team came to a junction in the corridor, and stopped briefly. Damar glanced surreptitiously down the corridor behind them. Nothing. Kira must have seen that as well, because she threw her manacles to the side. Damar glanced down, then stepped over them as the team resumed their walk to the bridge of the fighter.

Damar resisted the urge to look back at the manacles, which were surely oozing through the floor plating by now. It was always fascinating to see Odo transform.

As they walked onto the bridge, the Vorta in command seemed to be having a conversation on her headset regarding the new Breen weapons. Damar resisted the urge to spit. Weyouns 7 and 8 had taught him just how much he could hate a person, and he felt the urge to pass that hostility on to any Vorta that he saw. She had that oily voice, those same arrogant mannerisms that characterized the Weyouns. All he wanted at that moment was to snap her smug little neck, like Worf had done with Weyoun 7.

"Agreed. Coordinate it with central operations," said the Vorta, deactivating the comm on her headset. She turned to the team. "What's this?"

"We have a prisoner," said Garak. Damar endeavored to stay behind the others as much as possible. The Vorta would surely recognize him if he wasn't careful.

"I can see that," the Vorta replied. "Why are you bringing her to me?"

"This is Commander Rota, deputy intelligence officer for this entire sector. I would think you'd be interested in interrogating her."

Damar had to hand it to him: Garak was an excellent actor. It was difficult not to see him as a traitor anymore. Or at least, not as an enemy. Damar almost had to chuckle to himself when he thought about the fact that he and Garak were practically the same thing now. Except that Garak had a much lower profile and more experience with remaining unnoticed. He almost envied Garak his Obsidian Order training.

Damar had never had enough guile to be trained in such a manner. In fact, he'd barely graduated from Ba'Digza, Cardassia's academy for pilots. Of course, that was what had led him to the _Groumall_ in the first place. If he hadn't been trained as a pilot, if he hadn't graduated at the bottom of his class, he would never have been assigned to mere freighter duty. He would never have met Dukat, and he would never have risen to the top of the Cardassian government. It struck him as very ironic that his initial mediocrity was the reason for his eventual rise to power.

"I wasn't informed of this," the Vorta said suspiciously.

"I'm sure the report hasn't reached you yet, but that's not surprising," Garak replied. "We only took the commander prisoner yesterday."

The Vorta still seemed suspicious, and the Jem'Hadar soldiers on the bridge noticed. Damar could feel them starting to box his team in. He felt extremely vulnerable without his weapon.

"Let me see your orders," said the Vorta.

"Of course," Garak answered, but just as he was about to hand the PADD over, the Female Founder entered the bridge. Damar was shocked, and felt panic start to well up in him; there was no way she wouldn't recognize him. It took him a moment to realize that it was merely Odo. He hadn't realize what a talented shape-shifter the changeling truly was.

"Founder, you honor us with your presence," said the Vorta. "I had no idea you were in this sector."

"My movements do not concern you," the Founder replied.

"No..."

The Founder turned to the team. "Ah. Commander Rota." She turned back to the Vorta. "Have you begun interrogating this prisoner?"

"Not yet."

"Good. I will conduct the questioning myself."

The Vorta nodded. "As you wish."

The Founder glanced at one of the Jem'Hadar. "I see the upgraded plasma rifles have been distributed. Let me inspect it." The Jem'Hadar handed the weapon to her.

"An excellent weapon." She turned to Garak. "What do you think?" she asked, handing the rifle to him.

Garak took the weapon and seemed to look it over, then suddenly spun it around and fired it rapidly, killing the Vorta and her Jem'Hadar officers before they knew what was happening. The Founder watched in surprise, and... was that remorse? Damar and Rusot grabbed the weapons from the dead soldiers, then Damar headed for a console.

"Secure those hatches!" Kira ordered. As Rusot moved to lock the doors, the Founder morphed into Odo.

"It wasn't necessary to kill them all!" he said.

"We can't afford to be burdened with prisoners," Garak replied.

"We'll argue about this later," said Kira. "Prepare to flood all decks below the bridge with neurozine gas." She turned to Damar. "Bring the warp drive online and lay in a course for the Federation."

Damar was doing just that when Garak spoke up urgently. "Commander! They haven't finished installing the Breen weapon. We can't leave."

Damar's eyes met with Kira's. This was definitely not according to plan.


	6. Standoff

"How long until they finish installing the weapon?" Odo asked.

"We can't wait!" Rusot interjected nervously. Damar was a bit surprised. Rusot was by no means a calm person, but he certainly wasn't prone to panic. Of course, Damar remembered, Rusot had never wanted this mission to take place.

"We're not leaving without that weapon," Kira said firmly.

Garak spoke up from his console. "There are three--no, four Breen working in the engine room. From the diagnostics, I'd say it'll take them another thirty to forty-five minutes to complete their work."

"We don't have that much time!" Rusot said. Rusot's attitude was starting to make Damar nervous. He was aware that Rusot had attempted to assault Kira while they were still at the base, and that she had quickly gained the advantage during the fight. He was also aware that Rusot would not let his defeat at Kira's hands go unpunished.

"Yes, we do," Kira replied. "No one even knows we're on the bridge. All we have to do is sit tight, send out the standard replies to any inquiries and wait for the Breen to finish their work."

"Damar, this is insane!" Rusot said, turning to him. "She'll get us all killed."

Damar hesitated. What Kira suggested was risky. Very risky. But not as risky as just sneaking off the ship would be. Yet... Rusot was armed and nervous, and the last thing they needed was for Rusot to turn on them. Any of them.

Damar was relieved when a beep from Garak's console took the attention off of him.

"There's an incoming message," said Garak. "They want to speak with the Vorta."

Kira took the headset from the Vorta. "Disable the visual feed." She put it on. "What was her name?" Garak punched a few buttons on the console. "Come on!"

"I'm looking... ah! Her name was Luaran."

Kira activated the headset. "This is Luaran," she said, letting her voice take on the signature Vorta smugness. "No, I can't see you either. We're experiencing difficulties with our com system. What do you want?" She listened. "Just a moment." She deactivated the headset and turned to Damar. "They want a status report on our navigational array."

Damar began to search for it, but Odo beat him to it. "I've got it."

Kira reactivated the headset. "The data is on its way." A pause. "Excellent. We'll be repairing the com system for at least the next hour. I'll contact you when we're finished. Luaran out."

"What if they didn't believe you?" Rusot asked as she took the headset off.

"Then we're dead."

* * *

It had probably been only half an hour, but it seemed much longer. With Rusot's ever-increasing uneasiness, the mood on the bridge of that Jem'Hadar vessel was doing nothing but growing tenser. Damar didn't say a word. While the others would occasionally speak, he was in no mood to talk. He was busy thinking over all the things he should have said to his wife, all the nights he should have spent with her instead of with some other woman he would never see again. He thought of all the times he sat drinking in his quarters in Dominion headquarters, instead of spending the afternoon with his son.

He used up all the words in his vocabulary trying to tell himself how... There, he'd lost it again. There were no words. Terrible. Horrible. No, they weren't extreme enough. He had wasted all of his time, and now there was no more. His family was gone. He had pushed them aside over and over again, as if he hadn't wanted them, and now that they were no longer there, he found himself thinking that he would give anything just to hold them again, just to look at them once more. He had one picture of himself with his family: a portrait taken upon his promotion to Legate.

The last time he had seen them had been right before the first strike of the Resistance. At least he'd come to his senses enough to realize that he wouldn't see them for a very long time. He'd spent the afternoon playing with his son, and the evening fighting with his wife. He would have preferred that the night had gone differently, but he'd already wasted too much time. She was furious with him, and rightly so. All the apologies on Cardassia couldn't change that. He wondered if she'd found it within her to forgive him before she died.

Probably not. She most likely died knowing that her death was a result of his betrayal. And now he would never have another chance to earn her forgiveness. He hated himself for what he'd done to them, to himself. He hated himself even more than he hated the Dominion, if that was possible.

"How much longer?" asked Kira, almost startling Damar. He'd nearly forgotten where he was.

"I'm not certain. They appear to be having trouble connecting the secondary relays," Garak replied.

Damar noticed that Kira seemed a bit distracted. He followed her line of sight see that Odo wasn't looking well.

"Odo, are you all right?"

Odo's reply seemed labored. "Yes... don't worry... I'm..." Suddenly, he let out a cry and fell to the ground, his body suddenly covered with flaky discolorations, very much like the Founder had been. Except that Odo looked much, much worse.

"Sorry," Odo said.

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Kira replied tenderly. Damar was cut to the heart by the pain he could see in her face when Odo convulsed again. "Stay with me, Odo. We're going to get out of here. Just hang on a little longer."

It was then that Damar noticed Rusot standing over them, almost victorious. "It's over."

"Shut up, Rusot!" Kira said.

"The Shape-shifter is useless. The whole plan is coming apart; we have to get out of here!"

"Go back to your post!" Kira ordered.

"No! No more! We're leaving now!" Rusot cried, aiming his phaser at Kira.

Garak raised his weapon and trained it on Rusot. "That would be unwise." Damar grabbed his rifle, which had been lying on the console in front of him. This was getting out of hand, to say the least.

"You're still a Cardassian, Garak. You're not going to kill one of your own people for a Bajoran woman," Rusot said.

"How little you understand me," Garak replied.

Damar stepped out from behind his console. "Enough! Put your weapons down, both of you!"

"You wanter her dead too, Damar, I know you do," Rusot hissed. "But you're the leader of the rebellion and you don't want to kill someone wearing a Starfleet uniform. Let me do it for you."

How little Rusot understood. Damar no longer wanted Kira dead. It was hard to describe how he felt toward her, but hatred was hardly the word, anymore. At one time, Rusot would have been right, but not now.

A console beeped. Glancing at it, Damar felt a bit relieved. "They've finished installing the dampening weapon," he said, hoping that this news would calm everyone. Maybe now that something was going right, Rusot would put his weapon down.

"Then let's all get the hell out of here," Kira said.

"Not you," Rusot replied.

"I'm still here, Rusot," said Garak, his weapon still trained on his comrade.

"Damar, shoot him! We can kill them both and keep the Breen weapon for ourselves. I believe in you, Damar. I know you're the right man to restore the Empire we loyally served. The Empire we loved. Togehter we can lead our people to greatness again!" Rusot paused. Damar could only assume it was to let his words sink in. "Just aim and fire."

Damar would have been lying if he said that Rusot's sentiments were not appealing. And with the Breen weapon... they could hit the Dominion with it and Weyoun would never even know what killed him. But... then what? They couldn't fight all of the Dominion's fleets with a single Jem'Hadar fighter, no matter how heavily armed.

In a moment, Damar had made his decision. Someone would have to die, and by his hand.


	7. Changes

There was a stunned silence in the room, except for the thud of a body hitting the ground. Damar had made his choice.

He walked over, and looked down at Rusot's body. "He was my friend. But his Cardassia is dead... and it won't be coming back."

He met Kira's gaze, and could hardly tell what she was feeling. She looked... almost... proud? Of him? Grateful, perhaps? Or did she realize that her harsh comment back on the runabout had really affected him? Perhaps she hadn't expected it to. After all, Damar could remember what sort of man he had been back on Terok Nor, the last time he had worked with her.

Perhaps it wasn't until now that Kira truly realized how much he had changed. In fact... now that he thought about it, he himself hadn't realized until that moment how different he was. Even earlier that day, he might have made a different choice, handled the situation differently.

"Flood all compartments with the gas," Kira said to Garak. "Clear all moorings. Bow thrusters ahead full," she said to Damar. He had to admire her. Even after everything that had just happened, she was still completely focused on the mission. It was more than he could say for himself.

They hadn't been underway long before Garak said, "We've cleared their defense perimeter."

Kira's whole body was visibly relaxed as she ordered Damar to take the helm. Earlier that day, even, he might have taken issue with her giving him orders like that. But now... well, it hardly seemed to matter. He replaced her at the navigational console as she went to Odo and began to talk quietly with him. The shapeshifter was clearly in agony... and Kira seemed to share it emotionally, if that was possible. Damar had never been able to read her so well. Just glancing at her, he could see everything she was feeling. It was almost unsettling. After a moment, they fell silent, and she simply sat with Odo.

Damar couldn't deny feeling a bit... was it envious? He couldn't tell. He only wished he could have been able to be with his wife as she lay dying. He only hoped that Kira knew how fortunate she was to have the chance to say goodbye.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, it's a really short chapter, but I've kind of been following the episode "Tacking Into the Wind," and now I've run out of episode. So I was wondering, and let me know what you think: should I continue with the next episode in this fic, or make a new one? If I continue in this fic, it could end up being pretty long, but the continuity wouldn't be broken. On the other hand, if I make a new one, then the story will still be there, and it won't be one intimidatingly long fanfiction. I always get a bit intimidated by a fanfic that has 20 chapters, myself. So anyway, let me know what you think.

One way or another, I'm going to continue with this. It's just too much... I don't want to say fun, because Damar really is a tragic character. I just love writing about him.


	8. Shocking News

Damar sat in his temporary quarters on Deep Space Nine, reading reports of the war. It seemed like so long ago that he had been here last, when in reality it had really only been a year or two. He wasn't sure anymore. This war was getting so drawn out...

The last time he had been here he had been so sure that the war was about to end. "Victory was within our grasp!" Dukat had cried when all those plans, all those hopes came crashing down. The last time he had been here, he had nearly brought about the demise of the entire Alpha Quadrant. The last time he had been here, he killed an innocent girl.

He stood up and began to pace. It was so unsettling, being here again. He couldn't stand to walk the corridors: every time he did he saw Dukat cradling his dying daughter. And he couldn't go out in public: he was a wanted man, and a Cardassian. He couldn't be certain that a Bajoran, a Klingon, a Romulan, perhaps even a Dominion spy, wouldn't try to put a knife in his back.

He wondered how long it would be before they could get underway. He knew that he and Garak at least would be leaving within a week, but Kira would probably not want to leave her dying lover. And once he died, she probably wouldn't want to leave even then.

So it came as an absolute shock to him when Kira herself walked in the door, with Garak on her heels. "Are you ready to go, Damar?"

He looked around the quarters, smiled, and lifted his arms helplessly. "Just as soon as I pack." He hadn't brought anything to this station except himself and his weapons, and he was fairly certain that he was in possession of both at all times.

Kira was not amused. "Then let's go." She turned and walked out the door. Damar's smile faded as he and Garak followed her out.

"Perhaps it would be a good idea to give her a wide berth," Garak said.

"Perhaps it would," Damar replied dryly.

Shortly thereafter they were underway. Damar couldn't deny his surprise at her willingness to leave Odo. He must have requested it specifically. Nothing else would have caused Kira to leave his side.

The trip back to their base was long. They had to avoid the Dominion patrols; Weyoun would certainly have his Jem'Hadar minions scouring their territory for the stolen fighter. But taking the long way around left the three of them in that uncomfortable fighter for three days, with the atmosphere being anything but relaxed. Kira was extremely tense and short-tempered. Damar didn't blame her for it, but it certainly made for a long trip. 

Suddenly, his console beeped. "We're receiving a message from Deep Space Nine."

Kira picked up the headset, taking a deep breath before putting it on. "Hello, Julian." A pause. Damar looked intently at her. Her eyes would be the clue as to the news she was receiving. But her face was expressionless. "Thank you, Julian," she whispered after a moment. The bridge was completely silent as she took off the headset slowly. She didn't have to say it; Damar and Garak both knew. Odo was dead.

* * *

A/N: OO And you thought I was going to stick with the canon sequence of events until the bitter end! 

Well, to be fair, I did too, but SpaceRoses suggested that I do a "what might have been" sort of story, and I started playing with some ideas, I even posted the beginnings of a new fic, but decided that it would be most convenient to hijack this fic. Don't worry: I'm not just changing canon according to my own wishes (after all, I rather liked Odo). It will all be resolved satisfactorily before the very end. Don't worry. Anne has a plan. ;)


	9. Small Comforts

"I think I'll go recalibrate the inertial dampeners," Garak said, probably to give Kira some time alone. Damar debated whether or not to do the same. He wasn't sure if Kira was the type to express her grief violently, but he suspected that she was. In which case, he felt he should probably stay; they couldn't afford for her to destroy any of the equipment on the bridge. He watched her carefully for a sign, anything, that would tell him what she was going to do.

A tear dancing at the corner of her eye was the only clue to what she had to be feeling as she handed the headset to Damar. "Take the helm," she said, heading for the door.

He was surprised at her composure as he took the headset from her. He could imagine what she had to be thinking; after all, he had just gone through something similar less than a week ago. He turned toward her. "Kira." She stopped in the doorway, but did not turn to face him. "If you need anything... you need only ask."

She said nothing as she walked out and the door closed behind her. He wanted desperately to follow her out, to let her cry on his shoulder. But he knew she would only be angry. What right did he have to want to comfort her? She had probably lost more than a few loved ones at the hands of the Cardassians. If only they had met under better circumstances. If only...

He stopped. Since when did he care so much about her? There was a time when he had hated the thought of her, when personally executing her would have given him great pleasure. And now... When had he... how long... ?

He couldn't even bring himself to terms with it. Was he... actually... in love? With Kira?

He shook his head. It was ridiculous. Why would he be in love with her? There was no sense in that. No reason for it. She was an ally, perhaps even a friend, but not...

A friend. When had _that_ happened? Was she really his friend? When the war was over, if they survived, would they go have a drink at Quark's together, sit and talk, like friends do? He liked to think they would. In the little time they had spent working together they had both been through so much. He hoped that when it all ended they would both see that there was a friendship there.

Hours passed. Garak returned to the bridge, but said nothing. Suddenly, it hit Damar. During the three days they had been on this ship dodging patrols, he hadn't seen Kira eat once. That didn't mean that she hadn't eaten, but she couldn't have eaten much. Perhaps bringing her something to eat might help her a little. Even if she wasn't hungry, it might be good for her to know that she wasn't alone, and that her comrades on this ship cared about her.

The Jem'Hadar fighters didn't have quarters, due to the soldiers' lack of need to sleep, so the team had set up quarters in the cargo bay. When Damar first entered, the bay seemed nearly destroyed, but empty. He was about to leave and scour the rest of the ship when he noticed Kira's shoulder sticking out from behind the only stack of Ketracel White barrels still standing. He approached gingerly. "Kira?" He halted, almost standing over her. "I brought you something to eat," he said, squatting beside her.

It didn't really matter, but he theorized that she had walked into the cargo bay, shoved over all the barrels of White within reach, and, exhausted, had halfway collapsed behind this last remaining stack, without the energy to so much as shove any of them out of place. Now, she was simply staring at the wall, her mind somewhere else.

"I'm not hungry."

He didn't know what to say. He had never been good at this. "Well, I'll leave it here, in case you should want any," he said gruffly. He winced; he'd tried to make it sound tender, but he just wasn't able to make his voice sound that way. Standing, he began to walk out of the bay, but was startled to hear her speak.

"I wasn't there when my father died."

He stopped, and turned around. He didn't expect Kira to want to talk, least of all to him. But then, if she needed to talk, then he was the only one there to listen. He walked back over and sat down next to her.

"I was off killing Cardassians when he died. He'd asked me to stay, but I just couldn't. It hurt too much to watch him die. And now I've done it to Odo, too."

"He wouldn't have wanted you to watch him die," Damar said, staring at the same wall she had been staring at.

She turned to look at him. "How do you know that?"

Damar looked back at her. "If he had, you would have been there. If there's anything I've been able to observe about you, it's that you don't abandon the people you love." He looked back at the wall.

"I abandoned my father."

"How long ago was that?"

Kira thought for a moment. "I see your point. I suppose I have learned from that mistake, at least. But... I just wish I had been there for Odo." He could see tears coming to her eyes as she shook her head.

"At least he knew how much you loved him," Damar replied. "By the time I finally had the sense to tell my wife, it was too late. Words no longer carried meaning; I wasted too much time."

He glanced at her, and saw that she was staring at him with compassion. It was not a look he was used to seeing from her. Not directed at him, anyway. "I'm so sorry, Damar."

"I don't want your pity, Colonel."

She looked back at the wall. He kicked himself for being so harsh. "I'm sorry, Colonel. I didn't mean--"

"I understand. I don't want pity, either."

"For what small comfort it may afford you... Odo was a good man."

"Yes, he was."

They sat there silently for a few minutes. Occasionally, he would glance at her, and now and again he would see a tear streaming down her cheek. He wanted to do something, and debated what that something was. Finally, timidly, he touched her hand softly, and to his surprise, she grabbed his in response, and held it tightly. Aside from the sporadic tear, it was the only outward sign of her grief. He admired her for having that kind of strength. He had expected more of an outburst from her, but she really was the type to keep her passions private.

Damar didn't know how long she was going to keep that vice grip on his hand, and it didn't matter. He would let her for as long as it took, because he cared about her. She was his friend.

* * *

A/N: Damar's not a hard character to write, but Kira... MAN! She's really a hard character to pin. I must have rewritten this chapter three or four times trying to figure out how she would grieve and how Damar would relate to her in that. I'm still not completely happy with it, but oh well. 


	10. Confrontation

Damar was jarred awake by the sound of the intercom. "Garak to Damar. We've arrived at our headquarters."

It took him a minute to get his bearings. He was in the cargo bay, sitting against a stack of Ketracel White barrels. Kira was not there. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. How long had he been asleep? It couldn't have been very long.

He headed up to the bridge to find Kira already there. She seemed to be all business. "We're receiving a message from the surface. It's for you, Damar." She handed him the headset.

"Put them through," he replied, putting it on.

The small screen blinked to life, revealing the face of Seskal, Damar's new second. Of course, he didn't know it yet. They didn't yet know that Damar had had to kill Rusot.

"Damar. It's good to see that you've returned safely. Is all well?"

Damar glanced at Kira. "We've had our losses."

"I'm sorry to hear that, sir. Much has happened in your absence. We've received a communication from Gul Revok. He says he's willing to meet with you."

Damar smiled. "Excellent! We'll be landing shortly. I expect everything to be prepared for our arrival."

"We will be ready for you, sir."

After having several soldiers beam up to secure the ship, Damar, Kira, and Garak beamed down to the base command center.

Seskal stepped foward. "Welcome back, Damar." He looked at Damar's companions, and looked a bit worried. "What happened to Rusot?"

Damar glanced at Kira, briefly wondering if he ought to tell Seskal the truth. After a moment's pondering, he decided that, for Kira's sake, the circumstances of Rusot's death would be better kept a secret. "He was killed while doing his duty."

"What of the shapeshifter?"

"He's also dead."

Seskal stepped forward and lowered his voice. "Some of the missions we planned are going to be nearly impossible without the changeling."

"Then we will plan new ones. Now, let me see the message from Gul Revok."

* * *

Damar walked into the bunkroom just in time to see Kira throw the cooling unit against the wall less than five feet from the door. Startled, he stared at the machine for a few seconds before turning to Kira. "It must have said something offensive for you to be so angry with it." 

"It wasn't working anymore," Kira said, not making eye contact. Damar thought he could see a hint of a tear before she stood up and turned around. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands before hitting the on switch. To his surprise, the machine activated. "Seems to be working perfectly," he said.

She put her hands on her hips and hung her head silently. Damar took a step forward. "I don't pretend to know your business, Kira, but I don't think this has anything to do with the temperature."

She raised her head, her back still turned toward him. "No... I don't suppose it does."

"You miss him."

"More than you know," she whispered. Silence. "And the worst part is, you and Garak are the only ones I can talk to," she said a bit louder, turning around to face him. Her tone made it evident that she appreciated the irony of the situation. "You must be enjoying this."

"On the contrary, Colonel. Perhaps... a year ago I might have enjoyed it, but now..." He shook his head. "I get no pleasure from seeing a friend in pain."

"A friend?" Kira was surprised, and clearly more than a little irritated. "You think we're friends? You're the one who killed Ziyal, Damar. I haven't forgotten that!"

"I was a different man, then."

She stepped forward so that she was face to face with him, her eyes boiling with rage. "That doesn't change what you did!"

"No, I don't suppose it does," he replied. She turned away from him again. "I did what I thought was best for Cardassia. Perhaps you can appreciate that, since you undoubtedly killed dozens of Cardassians, military and civilian, for the sake of Bajor."

"That was different!" she spat.

"Perhaps it was. But at the time, I didn't see a difference. For better or worse, I did everything out of loyalty to my people. Out of loyalty to Dukat." He hestitated. "At least... that's what I tell myself when he see her face at night." Kira turned toward him coldly, but he could see a hint of... something... in her eyes. He wasn't sure what, but he could tell she was listening, no matter how much she hated what he was saying. "For what little it may be worth to you, I am sorry for killing her. If I could change what I did..." He stopped. Kira's cold stare was starting to soften. "But I can't. I know I killed an innocent girl, and I have to live with that until the day I die."

"What do you want, Damar? My forgiveness?" she asked, almost sarcastically. Almost.

"I have no right to ask for that." She seemed shocked by his response. "Did you expect me to demand it with my trademark Cardassian arrogance?" he asked, smirking bitterly as he began to turn away.

"Yes, I did," she said softly. He turned back, surprised. She was lookin at him almost compassionately. "You've changed, Damar. Until now, when I looked at you, all I could see was the man who killed Ziyal."

"That man is dead, Kira." He turned to leave the bunkroom. "He died with his wife and son."


	11. Disaster

"Cardassia. It's as beautiful as I remembered," said Garak.

"It won't be beautiful in my eyes until the Dominion's gone," Damar replied, looking down at his console. The Dominion was like a scourge, a blight, a scar on the face of the planet.

"Orbital traffic control is asking for our clearance," Seskal reported.

"I'll handle it," Garak replied, going to work at his console.

"We're taking a big risk coming here," Kira said to Damar. "I hope this is worth it.

"Gul Revok and Legat Goris are ready to bring their troops over to our side. That's over half a million men," Damar replied. "If we can convince Gul Seltan to join us as well, we'll have another hundred thousand. I'd say that's worth the risk." Things were beginning to look up for the resistance, Damar reflected joyfully.

"And you're sure you want me along?"

"Before they join us, they'll want assurances that the Federation will support them," Damar replied. It was perfectly true; they would want a guarantee. But in the months since she'd joined the resistance, Damar had become so accustomed to having Kira at his side that it seemed unnatural to go on a mission without her.

"We're cleared for standard orbit," said Garak.

Damar turned to Seskal. "Do you have the transport coordinates?"

"Yes. The transporter room is standing by."

"Then the bridge is yours, Seskal."

"Good luck."

Damar beamed down to Cardassia with all the hope his warrior heart could muster. The resistance would be over soon, if all went according to plan.

However, one second after they rematerialized, they found that the plan had been thrown completely out the window.

Gunshots. Shouts. "Is that all of them?"

"Yes sir!"

"Secure the area! Follow me!"

"Inform the First that we have killed the traitors."

Damar instinctively pulled his weapon and ducked behind the rock. Jem'Hadar were everywhere, surrounded by the bodies of dead Cardassians.

"How did they know?" Garak whispered.

A Cardassian Gul stepped into the cavern, talking to a Vorta. Damar couldn't make it out, but he knew the gist of it.

"Gul Revok. He betrayed us."

Kira tapped her combadge. "Kira to Seskal. Get us out of here."

The sounds of explosions were in the background of Seskal's reply. "We're under attack! I can't lower the shields. Lock disruptors and return fire! Transfer auxiliary power to--"

The transmission cut silently. Kira tapped her badge again. "Seskal!"

"I don't think they're up there anymore," said Garak.

After trying a couple more times, Kira started to get up. "We have to get out of here. Damar, do you know any place we can go?"

"Everyone I know on Cardassia has either been arrested or killed."

"I might know someone who'll take us in," Garak said. "That is, if we can get to the capital."

"Well, we can't stay here," Kira replied, as the three of them exited the cavern as quietly as they knew how.

Getting to the capital city wasn't much of a problem; Dominion security was lax. Traveling at night and keeping to the shadows, wearing cloaks that concealed their faces, they reached the capital in two days. It was almost sunrise on the second day when Garak hit the door chime on a fair-sized Cardassian house.

An old woman opened the door; she had clearly already been awake. "Who's that?"

His hood lowered, Garak stepped forward with his arms extened for a hug, a warm smile on his face. "Mila."

"Elim? My, my, is that you? Come in, child, come in!" she replied, hugging him. As she let the three of them in and closed the door behind them, Kira and Damar lowered the hoods on their cloaks. "If I'm not mistaken, that's..."

Damar took her hand in his own. "Corat Damar, at your service," he said, kissing her hand. She blushed slightly, then turned to the other visitor.

"Well, a Bajoran! Strange company you keep these days, Elim."

"Mila, does this house still have the old cellar?"

Mila looked at him sternly. "I suppose you want to stay there."

"If it's not too much trouble, Mila."

She sighed and led them to the cellar door. "I don't hear from you for years, then you show up on my doorstep with these people," she said, leading them down the stairs.

"I do apologize for the intrustion, but you're the only person on Cardassia I can trust."

Mila turned on the light, prompting Garak to take a look around. "It's smaller than I remembered..." Noticing the looks of surprise on the faces of Damar and Kira, he explained: "I grew up in this house. Didn't I mention that?"

"I thought you said Enabran Tain used to live here," Damar said.

"Tain was Garak's father," Mila replied.

"He could never acknowledge it publicly because he was the head of the Obsidian Order. Mila was our housekeeper and most trusted confidante."

"I was never a very good cook, but I knew how to keep a secret."

"We need to contact the other resistance cells and warn them about Revok," Kira said. "Is there any way you can get us a comm unit?"

"If it's not too much of an imposition," Garak interjected.

"You shouldn't be involved in this," Mila said.

"We're attempting to free our people," said Damar. "Do you want to live under the Dominion for the rest of your life?"

"I'm an old woman," Mila replied. "I'm long past caring about such things... but I'll get you your comm unit." She began to trudge back up the stairs.

"Mila... thank you. I promise we won't be staying long."

"At least make yourselves useful," the old woman said. "This room hasn't been cleaned in years."

When the door closed behidn her, Kira grabbed a bucket and some rags. "You heard the lady," she said, chucking the bucket at Garak.

"Ah, the glamor of being a revolutionary," Garak replied sarcastically as he caught it.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, I didn't do much this chapter except get them into Mila's basement. But I've got more of the future chapters figured out. 

I'm heading back to my college on Saturday, and they have FF blocked there (boo!), so I won't be able to upload unless I go to Starbucks. Therefore, new chapters are going to be few and far between, but I'll try to get to Starbucks at least once a week. No promises, but I'll try. :(

Before that happens, though, I'll try to get as many chapters done and uploaded as I can. Wish me luck.


	12. Dire News

"...and thanks to the heroic efforts of Gul Revok, Damar was lured to Cardassia for a meeting with five other traitors. But his co-conspirators were killed before they could begin plotting against the people of Cardassia, and Damar hismelf was killed while trying to penetrate our defense perimeter in a stolen Dominion vessel."

Damar was tempted to turn the comm unit off. He couldn't stand hearing that smug little Vorta's voice, seeing his arrogant Vorta face. There was no one he hated more than Weyoun, and he was reminded of it afresh every time he saw the Vorta.

"At least they're not looking for us," Kira said. An optimistic remark. Damar would not have expected that of her.

"I'm also pleased to report that just hours ago, acting on information obtained by our intelligence operatives, our brave troups began a coordinated assault on Damar's terrorist bases." Damar felt his stomach begin to churn. "From Atbar Prime to Regulak Four, from Simperia to Quinor Seven, our forces have eliminated a total of eighteen rebel bases."

"All eighteen..." Damar said, simply stunned. How could they have gotten that much information?!

With the rebellion crushed, nothing can impede our march to final victory. Truly, this is a great day for the Dominion." With that, the transmission ended, and the presumed-dead trio were left sitting in stunned silence.

"I don't understand. How could they have compromised our entire organization?" Damar wondered aloud, unable to hide the desperation in his voice. "We took every precaution, encrypted every transmission, screened every recuit..."

"It doesn't matter how they did it! It's done!" Kira snapped. "We need to find a way to get off Cardassia. Garak, can we use this to contact the Federation?" she asked, motioning toward the comm unit.

"With a signal that strong the Dominion would trace our location within a matter of seconds," Garak said.

"All right. Maybe we could get to a transport..."

"We'd never get past the security checkpoints," Damar replied.

"What about Mila? Maybe she knows someone who could help us, someone from the Obsidian Order..."

"I'm afraid Tain and I were her only contacts," said Garak.

"You could at least ask."

"I know what the answer will be."

"Well, we have to do something!" Kira cried frantically. "We're not going to sit out the rest of the war in this cellar!"

Damar exchanged a look with Garak. Neither of them could see any way around it. There was nothing they could do. Damar looked back at Kira, standing in front of him. "Are we?!" she asked, desperately.

He said nothing, and sat down hopelessly on a crate. What could he say? They were trapped, helpless, alone. No way to get to the Federation, no resources to do anything to the Dominion.

The helplessness of the situation seemed to creep into Kira's eyes, and she also sat down. They were going to be in that cellar for a long time... perhaps the rest of their lives--however long that would last.


	13. Revolution

"If only they could see you now," said Mila, walking down the stairs. Damar supposed they were a vaguely ironic sight. Kira was just sitting there, peeling the label off a bottle. Garak was stacking his dishes in various patterns. Damar was just lying there on his cot staring at the cieling.

"Who?" asked Garak, sounding only half-concerned.

"People in the street. Everyone's talking about 'Damar and his Rebels,'" the old housekeeper replied.

"What are they saying?" Kira asked. "How stupid we were to walk into a Dominion trap?"

"How arrogant we were to think we could beat them in the first place?" Damar continued.

"How glad they are that we're dead?" Garak finished.

"Actually," said Mila, "they don't believe you're dead." That got their attention. "You should hear the stories. 'Damar's alive, my cousin saw him on Kelvas Prime!' 'He faked his own death. He's plotting a new offensive from his secret mountain hideaway.'"

Garak feigned surprise. "You didn't tell me you had a secret mountain hideaway."

"I thought I'd surprise you," said Damar, almost tempted to laugh.

Kira stared at him thoughtfully. "I wonder why they refuse to believe you're dead?"

"They're probably so used to being lied to, they don't trust anything the Dominion says."

"What if it's more than that?" Damar and Garak looked at her curiously. "What if we had more of an impact than we realized? What if we've turned you into a legend?"

Damar snorted. "Some legend."

"Don't you see? People want to believe in you. We can use that! The organized resistance may be gone, bu there's an entire civilian population out there that's fed up with living under the occupation. If Damar, the man they couldn't kill, asked the people of Cardassia to stand up against the Dominion..."

Damar sat up, finally understanding what she was talking about. Garak seemed to be entranced by the idea as well. "We might just have a revolution on our hands."

"Our you might really get yourselves killed," Mila groused. Part of Damar agreed: she was probably right. Trying to mobilize a revolt was suicide. But then...

"Anything's better than rotting in this cellar," Damar said resolutely. "How do we begin?"

* * *

The street was dark, but still busy. There was scarcely a street in this city that wasn't busy at all times. From the shadows of a nearby alley, Damar and Kira watched the Jem'Hadar barracks intently for any sign of Garak. From under the hood of her cloak, Kira's face showed her worry. "He's been in there too long. Something's wrong." 

They breathed a sigh of relief as they spied Garak coming out of the barracks, but it didn't last long. A couple of Jem'Hadar soldiers stopped him. "Let me see your work order," said the soldier.

"I showed it to you on the way in," said Garak, sounding almost creepily pleasant.

"This has not been approved by the First!" said the Jem'Hadar, snatching the PADD out of Garak's hand.

"Ah. Yes. Let me explain..."

"How much time?" Damar asked, turning to Kira.

"The detonator only had a three minute delay. The bomb could go off any second."

"Come on, Garak!" Damar hissed, frustrated.

"We've got to do something," Kira said, starting to get up from her position. Damar clutched his weapon tightly, and crept over to a position that allowed him to see down the street. There were only two Jem'Hadar.

"You will wait here until the First arrives," the Jem'Hadar said.

"And how long will that be?" Garak asked.

"You will wait!" insisted the Jem'Hadar. It was time to act.

"You! Jem'Hadar!" Damar called, in the most commanding voice he could muster as he stepped out into the middle of the street. "Who are you to treat a Cardassian citizen like that?"

"It's him! Damar!" the Jem'Hadar said to his comrade. "Hold him here." Stepping forward and training his weapon on Damar, he said, "Surrender yourself or die."

"I choose neither!" Damar cried as Kira fired on the Jem'Hadar.

Pulling out a knife, Garak turned on the guard holding him while the Jem'Hadar was still trying to process what was happening. Shouting warnings at the Cardassians around him, he dashed from the front of the building and dove for cover.

"Get back! Get back!" Damar shouted to those around him, grabbing a couple of them and pulling them away from the blast radius, just as the bomb went off. After a few seconds, the Cardassians start to get up and look around, a bit dazed. However, one young man grabbed a companion and shouted, "It's Damar! He's alive!" The crowd broiled with excitement.

"Citizens of Cardassia, listen to me!" Damar cried, standing on a crate. "The Dominion told you that the Rebellion had been crushed. What you have seen here today proves that was a lie. The fight for freedom continues, but it will take place here, in the streets.

"I call on Cardassians everywhere to rise up and join me! I need you to be my army. If we stand together, no one can oppose us! Freedum is ours for the taking!"

"Freedom!" Garak cried, setting the entire crowd in a frenzied riot for freedom. Damar smiled, please at the reaction of his people. The Cardassians were still a proud race, still a patriotic race, even after everything that had happened. It warmed his heart to see that they were still everything good that he remembered them to be.

Stepping down from his crate, he caught Kira's eye briefly before the crowd surrounded him. He was even more pleased to see the warm approbation on her face. She had been quite correct back in that cellar. Without her, he and Garak would never have thought to do this. All of Cardassia owed everything to this one Bajoran woman.


	14. Preparation

"The vote was unanimous," Garak told Kira. "The work disruptions begin tomorrow."

"Power, transportation, and communication facilities throughout Cardassia will be sabotaged," Damar said, accepting the plate of food Mila offered him.

"The Dominion fleet will be cut off from all ground support," Garak added.

Kira nodded thoughtfully as she took her plate. "That way, they'll have to face the Federation invasion force on their own."

Damar was starting to get excited. "And once the Dominion is crushed…"

"Cardassia will be free again," Mila finished for him. She turned to Garak. "When you were a small boy, I was worried about you. Always getting in trouble. Secretive. So full of deceit. Little did I know you would turn such distasteful characteristics into virtues. More tea?"

"You're too kind," Garak replied, smiling.

* * *

"It's been twenty-four minutes," Damar said, looking at the PADD. The room around them was dark except for a small emergency lightstick. The sabotage had worked out better than he'd expected. 

"Not bad," Kira said.

"If the Dominion hasn't been able to restore power in the capital, then the entire planet must be in chaos," Garak speculated.

"Let's hope so," replied Damar. Just then, Mila started coming down the stairs, holding a couple of lightsticks.

"I'm afraid I could only find two more lightsticks," she said. "I know there are others in the house somewhere…"

"Stop dawdling and bring them over here!" Garak demanded impatiently.

"Ah, how well I remember that tone of voice," Mila grumbled. "It reminds me of the demanding and inconsiderate boy you used to be."

"I haven't changed much, have I?"

"This will send a clear message to the Dominion," Damar said. "The Cardassian people will fight to regain their freedom."

"I hope they realize their fight is just beginning," Kira replied. "We have to hit the enemy again, and harder this time."

"That won't be easy," Garak interrupted. "They'll have tightened their security."

"It doesn't matter. We can't lose our momentum."

"Kira is right," Damar said. "We can't rest until Cardassia is free." He turned to Kira. "And when it is, we'll have you to thank. Without you, this rebellion would've died in its infancy." He wanted her to meet his eyes, maybe see that there was more meaning than his mere words would indicate. But she seemed intent on the floor. Of course, he thought. This rebellion had cost her much. As time passed it became more clear how much she had loved Odo. Damar was sure that he had neither loved nor been loved that deeply in his life.

"How ironic that Cardassia's saviour should be a former Bajoran terrorist," Garak agreed.

"Don't canonize me just yet," Kira cautioned.

Suddenly, the lights came back on. Damar glanced at the PADD. "Twenty-six and a half minutes. Let's see what the Dominion has to say for itself."

Garak turned the monitor on to reveal the face of Weyoun.

"Citizens of Cardassia… shame on you," he said, almost like a disappointed father. Damar was always amazed how much his disgust increased with every word he heard Weyoun speak. "This latest wave of vandalism directed against your Dominion allies must stop."

"I wouldn't count on it," Garak taunted.

"Let me assure you, we know that these disgraceful acts of sabotage were carried out by a mere handful of extremists. But these radicals must come to realize that their disobedience will not be tolerated; that you, the Cardassian people, will suffer the consequences of their cowardly actions. Which is why I must inform you that a few moments ago, Dominion troops reduced Lakarian City to ashes." Damar recoiled. He hadn't thought even Weyoun was capable of such brutality. He glanced at Kira; she seemed shocked as well. Damar knew that she had seen much during the Occupation, but not even the Cardassians had destroyed an entire city. "Two million men, women, and children, gone in a matter of seconds," Weyoun continued, almost as if he was hurt by the loss of life. "For each act of sabotage committed against the Dominion, another Cardassian city will be destroyed.

"I implore you not to let that happen. Let us return to the spirit of friendship and cooperation that has existed between our peoples, so that together, we can defeat our common enemies: the Federation, the Klingons, the Romulans, and all others who stand against us."

Damar heard Mila start to weep softly, and he clenched his fists. "I should've killed that Vorta jackal when I had the chance."

"You want another one?" Kira asked. Damar turned to her, eager to hear what she would say next. "Then let's attack Dominion Headquarters."

"Chop off a snake's head and its body dies," Garak mused.

"Damar, for the past two years you practically lived in that building..."

"If you're asking me if I know a way to get us inside, the answer is no--not without valid security protocols."

"Then we'll have to force our way in. We'll need some kind of explosive device," she said, turning to Garak.

"I'll get right on it," Garak replied.

"What you're proposing is suicide," Mila objected.

Garak turned to her. "Mila, if you don't have anything positive to say…"

"I'll prepare some food," Mila said resignedly. "No one should die on an empty stomach."

"You've hardly touched your meal," Mila scolded as Garak tinkered with a small explosive device. "No wonder you don't look well."

Garak rolled his eyes. "Of course I don't look well: I've been living in a cellar!"

Mila picked up Damar's plate. "So has Legate Damar."

"What about him?" Garak asked, hardly looking up from his project.

"He finished everything on his plate, which explains why he's such a fine, handsome figure of a man." Damar barely stopped himself from chuckling.

"I'm not sure I follow you," Garak said.

"I do," Kira said, smiling mischievously. "Mila, I believe you're falling in love!"

Mila harrumphed, but still blushed a bit. "I'm old enough to be his mother."

"Nonsense!" Damar said, taking her hand.

"Politicians…" Mila said to Kira, blushing a bit more. Suddenly, the door chime went off.

"Who could that be?" Garak asked.

"I'll go see," said Mila, heading up the stairs as Damar, Garak, and Kira grabbed their weapons and took cover. They waited for what seemed like hours.

"What's taking her so long?" Damar asked.

"I don't know," Garak replied, clearly concerned. Suddenly, the door opened. Damar braced himself for a firefight, and was stunned to see Mila's lifeless body tumble down the stairs.

"Mila!" Garak cried, rushing to her.

"Garak, look out!" Kira shouted as a stun grenade followed Mila down into the cellar. Damar ducked for cover, but it was useless. The sudden flash was followed instantly by darkness.

* * *

A/N: Well, it looks like this might be my last update before I hit the Nazi webfilter. Thanks for all the reviews, guys. I'll finish it eventually, don't you worry. I'm having way too much fun not to. 


	15. One Last Effort

Hey, guys! I'm really excited to be back for the week of Thanksgiving! Hooray for internet connections that don't block I want to thank all of you for your kind reviews. Although I could not reply, I received all of them by e-mail, and it was very encouraging to see that even though I was unable to update at all, the story was still being read and enjoyed!

I'll try to get more than one chapter up, if I am able. This chapter will largely be getting through the canon story to the part where I deviate from it (and spice things up a bit ;).

* * *

"Understood. It will be done at once," the Jem'Hadar First said, responding to orders that only he had heard. It wasn't too difficult for Damar to guess what those orders were.

The First turned to Kira. "On your feet!" he barked.

"Why?" the ever-defiant Bajoran asked.

"We prefer our prisoners to be standing when they die," the Jem'Hadar replied. Damar glanced at his companions. Had the end of their rebellion come at last?

"Does anyone have any last words?" Garak asked.

"You may kill us," Damar began, "But Cardassia will--"

"Enough!" the Jem'Hadar interrupted. "Final words are not permitted."

"How disappointing," Garak replied.

"Ready weapons!"

Damar glanced at his companions, courageously staring into the eyes of death. If he had a choice of who he would die alongside of, it would definitely be these two brave people. He took a deep breath and prepared to feel the blast that would end his life.

Phaser blasts.

It took Damar a moment to realize that he wasn't the one who had been shot; rather, it was the Jem'Hadar. Damar glanced up at the top of the stairs to see Cardassian soldiers. A firefight ensued; the First killed a Cardassian before he himself was finally subdued. The leader of the Cardassian soldiers stepped forward and stood over the First's smoking body. "That's for Lakarian city." Damar recognized him; it was Ekoor. He had been one of the Guls assigned to Central Command.

"Legate Damar, I pledge my life to free Cardassia from the Dominion."

Damar clapped him on the shoulder happily. "With men like you on our side, how can we fail?"

------

Plans began immediately for an assault on Central Command itself. Ekoor had brought a PADD that contained the blueprints for the building. "According to this map, it's a long way from the cargo door to the briefing room."

"That could be a problem," Kira interjected. "If we get trapped in one of the corridors--" She was interrupted by an explosion that shook the entire building. "What the hell?!"

Garak hurried into the cellar from the house above. "The Jem'Hadar... They're leveling the city, building by building."

Damar was shocked. Had the Founder decided to resort to genocide to get hold of the situation? She would have to be desperate for that.

"We have to go, now!" Kira said. Damar couldn't have agreed more.

"Once we get inside the complex, we stop at nothing until we capture the changeling." He paused. "For Cardassia!" With that, he charged up the steps.

-----

"We have a problem," Garak said, as the group hid behind a stack of barrels just outside the Central Command complex.

"Only one?" Kira asked sarcastically.

"I'm afraid it's a rather large one. The cargo door is made of neutronium."

"Then the explosives we brought aren't going to make a dent in it."

"You see the problem."

"What do we do?" Ekoor asked.

"I don't know," Damar replied. "But I'm through hiding in basements."

Suddenly, Garak laughed. "I fail to see what's so funny, Garak," Damar said, somewhat jarred by the odd reaction.

"Isn't it obvious? Here we are, ready to storm the castle... willing to sacrifice our lives in a noble effort to slay the Dominion beast in its lair and we can't even get inside the gate!" Garak laughed.

Ekoor started to laugh, then Kira joined. Damar couldn't help but chuckle himself. It was a pretty ridiculous situation.

"We could knock on the door and ask the Jem'Hadar to let us in," Kira joked.

"Or have them send the female shape-shifter out to us!" Damar said.

The laughter lasted a few more moments before it died down into bitter silence.

"Like I said, we have a problem," Garak said grimly.

"What if I were to give myself up? Pretend to be your prisoner."

"They'd kill you on sight," Kira replied, shaking her head.

"And us along with you," Garak added.

Suddenly, Ekoor perked up. "The cargo door!"

Damar ducked down further behind the barrel and peeked out. Jem'Hadar soldiers were bringing out three handcuffed Cardassians. Damar recognized one of them as Broca, his successor. "But I haven't done anything wrong!" Damar heard him cry. "I'm not a traitor! Please, just let me speak to the Founder!"

Phaser shots. Almost instinctively, Damar leapt up, screaming, and shot the guards before they knew what was happening. He didn't stop for a second as he charged the building, the others following. They barely made it into the complex, the door closing ominously behind them.


	16. Out of Options

-Oooh, here it is. In canon, this is right where Damar dies.

I'm just gonna tell you right now... THIS SHALL NOT BE!! MUAHAHAHA!! See here as I deviate from canon to an extreme! Here comes the real writing challenge. Chapters 8-10 I was winging it away from canon, and now I return to that. So wave goodbye: canon is fading in the distance behind us... BAHAHA! (man, I am TIRED!)

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

As he dashed inside the building, Damar found himself charging toward a group of Jem'Hadar. He was just going to rush them recklessly, but as one of them fired, Kira pushed him out of the way. It took Damar a moment to realize that she had pushed him behind a barrel, and that the shot that would have taken him square in the chest had instead grazed his shoulder.

"Are you alright, Damar?" Ekoor asked.

"Never better!" he replied excitedly, getting up and firing out from behind the barrels. "Thank you, Kira. You may very well have saved my life."

Kira smiled roguishly. "Why are you apologizing? I thought you said we weren't gonna stop for anything!"

Damar smiled back. "You're right." With a shout, he dashed from behind the barrel, hitting two Jem'hadar before rolling behind another stack. With the soldiers dead, he charged on to the door. He felt unstoppable. It was only a few more corridors before he would yet again be face-to-face with the Changeling... and Weyoun. The thought of finally shooting that Vorta made him sure that he didn't want to die here in the corridors.

Damar was a little bit surprised at how few Jem'Hadar there were here in the building. They were moving very quickly through the building, shooting down anyone they saw. But they didn't see many.

Finally, the final corridor. Damar took cover behind a corner and peeked out to see. "There are only five!" he exclaimed.

"What?!" Kira asked.

"That seems rather strange," Garak said.

Suddenly, he realized why. "That arrogant little rodent!" Damar laughed. "Weyoun must have sent the other Jem'Hadar to help eradicate the rest of us Cardassians!"

Still chuckling, he emerged from the corner and shot down two of the guards: Kira, Garak, and Ekoor managed to get the rest in almost a split second. They were standing in a corridor, facing down the smoking bodies, with just a doorway between them and victory.

Damar shot the door mechanism, and charged into the room, to be greeted by Weyoun's fearful face. Even the Changeling looked scared. "Damar. What a pleasant surprise."

Damar laughed. "You look paler than usual, Weyoun."

Ekoor hurried to a console. "The Federation has the planet surrounded."

"Contact the Jem'Hadar and the Breen," Kira ordered. "Tell them to stand down."

"And order their troops on Cardassia to do the same," Garak added.

"I'll do no such thing," the Changeling said.

"It's over," Damar replied. "Order your troops to leave Cardassia!"

"There's not much left to protect, Damar," Weyoun replied smugly. To Damar's shock, Garak screamed and shot Weyoun point blank.

"I wish you hadn't done that," the Changeling said. "That was Weyoun's last clone."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Garak replied.

Damar smiled coldly. "And yet, I almost wish there were more, so that I could kill Weyoun as many times as I like."

"How brutal," said the Changeling. Damar raised his weapon.

"Order the troops to stand down."

"No."

"What are you hoping to accomplish?!" Kira asked.

"Isn't it obvious? You may win this war, but by the time it's over, you will have lost so many ships, so many lives, that your 'victory' will taste as bitter as defeat."

"Well, I suppose there's no convincing you," Garak said, his eyes glinting viciously. He raised his weapon and fired before Damar had a chance to stop him. The Changeling exploded as the beam hit her.

"You idiot!" Kira cried, stepping forward. "How are we going to stop them now?! We don't have her codes!"

"Never fear!" Garak replied, going to one of the consoles. "We can put a filter on the communications channel to make it look as if the Changeling is giving the order personally, and I can run a subroutine to find out what the last command code used on this console was. We can order them to cease fire just long enough for the Federation and the Klingons to destroy them."  
"Do it," Damar ordered. "Then open a channel to Sisko. Tell him that the war is over. Cardassia is reclaimed."

"Are you serious?!" Kira said. "The war's not going to be over just because she's dead! When the Jem'Hadar and the Breen find out what we've done, they'll fight to the last man! The war won't end, not for a long time!"

"But it will for the time being, long enough for us to evacuate Cardassia or rebuild her defenses."

"This is a mistake!"

"Unfortunately, this is the only option we have, unless you have a better idea."

She fell silent. Damar sighed. He'd hoped she would have something. But it looked as if Garak's idea would have to be the one they used. Damar prayed that no more Cardassians would die because of this alliance. Because of him.


	17. After the Battle

Well, I'm back for Christmas break, and the story's not going to end any time soon, I don't think. Enjoy!

* * *

Damar paced the halls of the newly captured Dominion headquarters on Cardassia Prime, waiting to hear back from Captain Sisko on the proposed treaty.

The only thing he loved that he still had was Cardassia. Of course, it was never going to be the same as it was when he was growing up. That Cardassia was gone forever. And though there were parts of it that he would miss, there were other parts he wouldn't, such as the part that told Cardassians they were superior, the part that encouraged them to invade Bajor. He would make sure the new Cardassia was not like that. After all, he had promised Kira.

The computer beeped: a message from Deep Space Nine. He activated the comline, and was shocked to see Kira herself on the other end. "Hello, Damar," she said, smiling warmly... yet halfheartedly. Something was wrong.

"What happened to Sisko?" he asked. Captain Benjamin Sisko was not the type to have his first officer deliver the news, good or bad.

Her smile faded, and she got that... that look... in her eyes again. It was a look that said she was in pain, but hiding it as best she could. After several months fighting the Dominion alongside her, he had learned to recognize that look fairly well. Sometimes she was better able to hide it than at others. This was not one of those times. "I'm afraid that for all intents and purposes... he's dead."

"'For all intents and purposes'?"

Kira nodded. "It's... hard to explain."

Damar took a deep breath. This was certainly a blow, and he could only imagine how much of a blow it would be to the Bajorans, who had seen Sisko as a religious symbol. "What about the treaty? Sisko was one of the main negotiators."

She smiled again, but it was still halfheartedly. "It went through; I made sure of it. I'm glad to tell you that the Federation will do everything they can to help Cardassia rebuild."

Damar nodded, smiling slightly. "Thank you, Kira. Without your help, we would never have--"

"It's not necessary, Damar."

"I still feel the need to thank you," he replied. "I only wish I could do it in person."

"You may still have the chance. The Federation needs a coordinator for the Rebuilding, and, as it turns out, someone back there on Cardassia requested me, specifically."

"I wonder who that could have been," Damar said. The twinkle in his eyes was the only visible result of this news. "How soon will you be here?"

"Tomorrow," she replied.

"I'll have a cooling unit ready for you."

For the first time, her smile looked almost genuine. "Thank you, Damar. Kira out."

He sat down at his desk, and leaned back. Kira was probably the only person still living whom he considered to be a friend. She had taught him so much during the short time she had spent with the Resistance... and he was sure she was grateful to him for what little he had been able to do to comfort her when Odo had died. He could still see the grief in her eyes, sometimes. It always pained him to see that look on her face, and he understood it so well. He had seen it in the mirror far too many times himself in the past few weeks. But he knew that expression wasn't all he and Kira shared. He knew she shared the same dream he did: a world where nobody would ever have to look like that again. The only difference was where that planet was located.


	18. Arrival

As she disembarked from the Federation transport, Kira gave Damar a smile much warmer than any he had ever seen on her face since Odo had died. Of course, there was still that little something in her eyes that said she was in pain. Damar wasn't sure she would ever be able to get that look out of her eyes. Nor did he feel that she should.

"Colonel Kira. Welcome back to Cardassia."

Her smile faded as she surveyed the capitol city...or what was left of it. "I wish it were under better circumstances."

"As do I." He paused. "I trust your journey was comfortable?"

"Fairly."

Damar hesitated awkwardly, unsure what to say. He motioned for her to walk with him toward Central Command, a few blocks away.

"It's nice to see these streets without Jem'Hadar troops marching all over them," Kira finally said.

"I couldn't agree with you more, Kira."

"I... hear that the Jem'Hadar didn't leave Cardassia peacefully," she said sadly.

Damar nodded bitterly. "The Cardassian death toll was almost two billion when we finally killed the last Jem'Hadar, and the situation is still very grave. Thanks to the Federation, we have some food, but there are still thousands of people who are having to go without."

"I see." The awkward silence descended once more. Damar glanced at Kira's face from time to time as they wended their way between piles of rubble in the streets. He winced as it occurred to him that this was probably what Bajor looked like after Cardassia left. Such destruction wouldn't be a strange sight to Kira, would it?

Finally, they reached Central Command. The building was still for the most part intact, having been equipped with shielding and a titanium infrastructure to protect it in situations just like these. Survivors and refugees had flocked to the building during the bombardment, and Damar hadn't been keen on forcing them to leave after it all ended; none of them had anywhere else to go, and with the onset of the rainy season, they would probably fall ill if they had no shelter.

"There are so many of them," Kira said compassionately as they carefully made their way through the crowd of women, children, and wounded, who were scattered throughout the corridors and barracks.

"This isn't even half of them," Damar replied. "Most of the rest are out trying to help with the rebuilding effort.

"How many are there?"

"At night, at least five thousand people sleep in the outer sections of Central Command."

"And the inner sections?"

"Reserved for the military and Federation relief workers such as yourself."

She stopped. "Damar, you can't expect me to sleep in comfort in the inner sections while conditions are so bad out here."

Damar stopped as well, turning back to her. "Conditions are no better in the inner sections, Colonel Kira. The only difference is that those who reside in the inner sections do so because they need to be able to coordinate the rebuilding effort, and the only quick access to information is in there." He resumed walking.

After a moment, she caught up. "But the inner sections have personal quarters."

"There's nothing 'personal' about having five men packed into a one-man room, Kira."

"I'm sorry, Damar. I thought--"

"You thought the military would still be taking the best of what everyone has?" He turned to look at her, but she was hiding her face. She really had been thinking that, hadn't she? He hesitated. How could he express what he wanted to say? He could he tell her that the Cardassian people really owed the difference to her? How could he tell her that, without frightening her or making it obvious to her that he...

"I'll admit, Kira... if I was the same man that I was when I first became the Legate of Cardassia, things might be very different. But... a wise person once used a terrible situation to show me how to change." He winced. It was so cliche. But he couldn't really think of a better way to say it. He hoped she'd understand, so he wouldn't have to explain himself. That would just be awkward.

To his dread, Kira looked confused. "Damar, what are you talking about?"

He thanked the stars that Cardassians didn't blush like most other humanoids. "What I mean to say is... when my wife and son were killed... you said something that greatly changed my perspective."

She sighed. "Damar, I should never have--"

"No, Kira. You said what I needed to hear. Granted, you could probably have picked a better time, but perhaps if you had, it wouldn't have been so poignant."

"It was a very harsh thing to say."

"I've always been a harsh man; nothing would have communicated to me better."

Just then, they reached the primary control room, and their conversation ended. Garak was there, as were several Federation officers, working hard to coordinate relief efforts. When Damar and Kira entered the room, those working stopped and turned to them.

"You all know Colonel Kira, of Bajor," Garak said to the others. They nodded. "She's here to take command of the Federation half of the relief effort."

As they made their introductions, Damar ducked out of the control room. He'd been working all through the night, and with as stressful as he was finding it to be in the same room as Kira, he was exhausted. As he entered his quarters and laid down on one of the mattresses, he was thankful that the other four who slept in the room were off somewhere else, that he would finally be able to get some sleep... and that Kira was, against all odds, back on Cardassia.


	19. Conversations

At last, a new chapter!

Several notes: I believe I've mentioned in the past that my school blocks FF. It doesn't now! I was ecstatic to discover a little while ago that my school now no longer blocks either FF or DA. That was a happy day.

So why did it take so long to update? Well, I really agonized over this chapter, and at the end you might understand why. But I hope you find that the wait was worthwhile. It was hard to write, but fun. ;)

* * *

For seemingly the thousandth time, Damar realized that he'd been staring at Kira.

He couldn't remember if he'd been thinking anything. He hadn't even really been thinking about her... at least, not that he knew of. It just seemed like every time his mind wandered, his eyes did the same. And they always seemed to find their way to her. He sincerely hoped she hadn't noticed, but the more exhausted he became, the more he found himself staring at her.

He shook his head, blinking his eyes tightly. Focus was vital. He looked back down at his console. He had been skimming a report of an earthquake that had hit the southern continent earlier that day. "As if we didn't have enough problems," he sighed.

"What?" Kira turned around and looked at him.

"This earthquake. It's going to set us back another few weeks in restoring that area."

She winced sympathetically. She seemed to want to say something, but her eyes communicated more than any words could have. She didn't have to know what to say; Damar felt slightly more peaceful just looking into her eyes.

"It's alright, I suppose. Things will get better. They have to," he said, smiling halfheartedly.

She smiled back, just as halfheartedly, then stood. "I'm gonna get some air," she said, giving Damar an encouraging pat on the shoulder as she left.

A few moments passed, then Garak spoke up, startling Damar. He'd forgotten that the other Cardassian was there. "Would it be impudent of me to make an observation?"

"What?" Damar replied nonchalantly, returning his attention to the console.

"You always seem a tad more cheerful when she's around."

Damar shot him a skeptical glance. "I look 'cheerful' to you?"

"Oh, compared to how you were before she arrived, you're practically bubbling with happiness."

"I can never tell when you're being sarcastic, Garak."

"I'm only barely exaggerating, Damar. Before she came it seemed like you could barely drag yourself out of bed. And you never made any hopeful statements like the one you just made a minute ago."

"If you say so," Damar replied, punching a few buttons and trying to maintain his indifference.

"And..." Garak added, "I can't help but notice that occasionally, when I look up, you aren't staring at your console."

"Just what are you suggesting?"

"I'm just wondering if perhaps you have feelings for the good Colonel."

Damar hesitated. Was he that transparent? He supposed he was. Of course, Garak had always been a fairly perceptive fellow, being in the Obsidian Order as he had been. And Damar had only been able to become a freighter pilot before Dukat came along. He hoped Kira didn't find him so easy to read. "That's ridiculous," he protested weakly.

"Ah... I thought as much."

It was very early in the morning when Damar finally left the control center to go sleep. These few corridors between that room and his quarters were the only empty ones in the building, and they were only empty at this hour. Damar was grateful that for a few moments he would be able to walk in privacy to collect his thoughts. He didn't like that Garak had been able to see right through him like that.

It was rather disconcerting, then, when he rounded a corner and ran right into Kira, just about knocking her over. He caught her, perhaps just as much to keep himself from falling as her. "I'm sorry. I didn't see you there," he said.

"Yeah, me neither," she replied, then hesitated. "I mean... I didn't see _you_ there."

Damar chuckled. "I understood." There was a moment of silence, and Damar realized to his chagrin that he was still holding her. Embarrassed, he let go, clearing his throat. "How are you this evening?"

She smiled. "You mean, morning?"

"Of course."

"I couldn't sleep, so I was just heading over to the control room to get some work done."

"Anything on your mind?"

She gave him an odd look. "Yes, actually."

"What is it?"

She looked into his eyes, then looked away, hesitating. "It's... it's nothing really."

"Are you sure?"

"Well... I... I was just thinking about... about Odo."

It wasn't until Damar felt his whole body start to sag in disappointment that he realized he'd been hoping she'd say something else. "Oh?"

"It's just... I thought I'd never be able to be happy again after he died. I mean... I'm a Bajoran. I've seen a lot of death. But this... this is different. I'd never loved anyone as much as I loved him. And I'm not sure I ever will." Damar looked at the ground, trying to hid his discouragement. "But..." she continued. He looked back up, reflecting briefly that hope is an odd thing. She was looking right at him, and... dared he think that this was different from her usual way of looking at him? "I..." she stammered. Damar realized he was holding his breath. "I..." He couldn't exhale.

Finally, she sighed. "I don't know what's wrong with me." Damar finally did exhale, extremely disappointed. At least, he was for a brief second before he realized how close she was to him; their bodies were almost touching. Had she moved that close while she was speaking, or had he? She seemed aware of the proximity, but she wasn't moving away.

It was perfect. So perfect. If only he didn't mess it up. His mind raced. What could he do? What should he do?

Finally, he realized he just didn't care.

"I don't either," he replied, grabbing one of her shoulders and moving his other hand behind her back, pulling her even closer. Praying she wouldn't dismember him for doing it, he planted his lips on hers.


	20. The Corridor

Damar felt a surge of elation as her lips seemed to give to his. Then, almost as if she had just been awakened, she jumped a little, tensed up, and shoved him away

"What the hell are you doing, Damar?" she shouted, scrubbing her lips with her sleeve, her face a distinct shade of crimson.

"I'm wondering that myself."

"That's not a good enough answer to keep me from breaking your nose!"

The rational part of him was telling him to take a step back, get out of punching range. But every other cell in his body wanted him to get closer, no matter what the consequences might be. The result left him rooted to the spot, unsure and unwilling to move in either direction.

This lack of reaction seemed to feed Kira's fury, and she swung her fist at him. At the last moment, he found himself finally able to take action. He ducked out of the way, barely able to keep himself from smashing into the corridor wall. To his surprise, he found himself laughing. He desperately wanted to stop, because his laughing seemed to be making Kira even angrier, but his efforts proved fruitless. After fighting it for a few moments, he finally decided to give in to the madness. After all... this was rather amusing in a bitter way, when he thought about it.

Eventually, he had to stop, doubled over laughing, one hand on his knee, the other held up in a gesture of surrender, hoping that Kira would let him finish laughing. Otherwise, he'd probably suffocate himself. He was already feeling slightly winded from all that dodging in the midst of the laughing.

"What's so funny, Damar?" she asked, rubbing the knuckles on one hand that had made contact with the wall. There was still unmistakeable hostility in her voice.

"It's just... so ridiculous," he replied, finally able to take a few breaths.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... did I move closer to you all on my own, or did you take a few steps yourself?" he asked as he straightened, looking her directly in the eyes.

She turned red again. "You did that all on your own."

"Did I?" he replied with an involuntary chuckle. "You seemed to enjoy it at first!" he felt himself wince internally as he began to laugh again.

She swung again, but this time, he caught her fist and pulled her closer to him. Her eyes widened, and Damar noticed that suddenly, he wasn't laughing. Their noses almost touching, he whispered, "Now, tell me honestly you don't want to do it again."

She seemed disconcerted. She opened her mouth once or twice, trying to say something, but no sounds came out. It took a second for Damar to realize she wasn't breathing. It took him another second to realize that he wasn't, either. Time seemed to stop as she actually began to move closer.

Their lips were almost touching when a sudden, strong jolt seemed to shift the entire corridor, causing them both to lose their footing. They both fell against the wall; Damar was still holding Kira's right wrist, with his own right hand slammed against the wall to keep from falling down. Suddenly conscious of a world outside simply him and Kira, he let go and looked around at the shaking corridor.

"Earthquake!" Kira shouted.

"This is impossible!" Damar cried in reply, using his arms to brace himself against the wall.

As soon as the shaking ceased, Damar turned and headed straight for the control room, covering the distance in long, purposeful strides. Kira was jogging a bit to keep up.

"This is impossible!" Damar repeated. "Cardassia Prime is one of the most tectonically stable planets in this quadrant, and the capital city was founded on the biggest continent, almost as far away from any faults as it could get. We shouldn't be having earthquakes anywhere on the planet, much less here!"

The control room was already a chaotic bustle when Damar and Kira entered it. People were darting from console to console, trying to keep up with the steady stream of reports.

"...residence building in Sector 23 has completely collapsed! Casualties..."

"...over 500 men, women, and children trapped in a building in sector..."

"...plant is critical, recommend evacuating..."

Damar took over the console that they'd set up to monitor planetary geography when the earthquakes first began. He gasped, causing Kira to look over his shoulder. "What is it, Damar?"

"The entire planet's geography is changing. This earthquake isn't just here in the capitol. It's global." He looked up at the large viewscreen, which had a satellite picture of the Cardassia Prime. It didn't look like the Cardassia he loved; new volcanoes, visible from orbit, had popped up on the southern continent. Elsewhere, it looked as if whole cities were burning. Smoke was billowing up from several locations, starting to cover the entire planet in a layer of ash clouds.

"Cardassia Prime is tearing herself apart."

* * *

A/N: Well, folks, I hate to say it, but we're probably within five chapters of the end. Sorry it's taken me so long to update. To be honest, I just couldn't imagine Kira's reaction for the longest time, and then all of a sudden it came to me in twenty minutes flat. Anyway, I'm hoping to get the fic done by the end of the year, but with the rate I'm writing at, it's probably not going to happen. Ta.

* * *


	21. Relief

"Cardassia Prime is tearing herself apart." It didn't even sound like Damar's own voice. It sounded small, helpless. He felt as helpless as when the Dominion had wiped out all the bases in the Resistance. Perhaps even more so, since he had nothing to blame, nothing to fight against.

"Why is this happening?!" he heard Garak cry frustratedly. The other Cardassian was desperately trying to coordinate relief efforts, punching buttons on his console with an energy that almost seemed like rage.

Suddenly, another shock hit the building. Damar was horrified to hear the rafters start to creak, but the shock was barely three seconds long.

"An aftershock," Kira said.

"Garak, I want you to link up to our geographic satellites and perform a full scan of the planet. I want everything: tectonic arrangements, temperature readings, radiation levels, anything that might tell us what's going on."

"That may take some time, considering that the Dominion destroyed all but two of our satellites, and all of the ships in orbit are completely taxed with relief efforts."

"As long as it takes, Garak. Kira, I want you to coordinate relief efforts; get some rescue teams together for some of the collapsed buildings. I'll go with the first. Vornar, Naret, you're with me."

The two men he had named were out of the room faster than he was. As he walked out the door behind them, he heard Kira's voice. "Damar!"

He turned around to face her as the door closed behind her. The two men stopped and looked back, but he motioned for them to go on.

"About what happened in the corridor..."

"I'm sorry, Kira, but neither of us have the time--"

"I know," she replied, crossing her arms uncomfortably. For the first time, Kira looked... how did she look? Almost... well, she looked uncertain, at least. That definitely was not like her. She took a deep breath, and the uncertain Kira vanished. "You'd better come back so we have a chance to talk," she snapped.

He chuckled. "Talk." Knowing Kira, it would be more like "Pummel." "I will."

* * *

Three days. That was how long he had been without sleep, at least by his count. One day before the earthquake, then two days digging through rubble and dodging through unstable buildings, looking for survivors. Aftershocks still ripped through the city now and again; every time he entered a damaged building, he found himself praying involuntarily that an aftershock wouldn't choose just then to hit.

Vornar and he had started a running tally, almost a contest of how many people they could save apiece. It seemed rather cold-hearted, but the competition gave Damar energy to keep going. Just when he thought he was about to collapse from exhaustion, Vornar would trot by and shout, "Thirty-eight!" or "Fifty-six!" and Damar knew he had to keep going. The younger man's energy encouraged Damar. And he felt he almost lived for the moments would Kira's voice would come out of his communicator, though most often it was to give him another mission. There was a reason he'd put her on coordinating rescue teams instead of Garak. Hearing Garak's voice every hour or so would just get annoying.

He was vaporizing shattered slabs of concrete with his phaser when his communicator chirped. "Damar here."

To his immense pleasure, it was Kira. "Damar, I think it's time you brought your team in for rest."

He sighed. "You know that's out of the question. Who knows how many people would die while I was sleeping? I couldn't live with that."

"I know, but I can't afford to have you dropping dead from sheer exhaustion." "I." Was it just him, or did that sound more personal than it had to be? He should his head; he really did need some sleep.

She seemed to be getting impatient on the other side. "Damar, it's been four days since the earthquake. _You need sleep_."

"Four days?!"

"Yes."

"I thought it had only been two."

"That only shows how much you need to rest. Vornar and Naret have been going as long as you have. Your men deserve a break."

He hesitated, then decided he was far too exhausted to argue anymore. "Very well. I'll bring them in."

Half an hour later, he laid down on the cot and barely had time to reflect on how good it felt to be off his feet before he fell asleep.

It seemed as if only seconds had gone by before he heard his communicator beep. Groaning, he turned over and picked it up. "What?!"

He felt a twinge of regret at being so gruff, but it evaporated when he realized that the voice coming over the comm was not Kira's, but Garak's. "I've completed the scans. I think you'll find the results very... interesting."


	22. Questions

"You said I'd find the scans interesting, Garak?" Damar asked as soon as the door to the command center was open. It was empty compared to how it had been four days ago when the earthquake had first struck. Leaning against her console with her arms crossed, Kira was the only other person in the room with Garak.

"Ah, yes, well, the scans are all very interesting, but there's one part in particular that I found especially fascinating."

"And what is that?"

He paused, his blue eyes wide and filled with that creepy "I've got something juicy to tell you" look that only Garak could truly master. "The scans showed a tachyon field radiating out from the planet... and it's expanding."

Kira stood up straighter. "Time travel?"

"Well, as you should know, my dear Commander, Tachyons aren't always an indication of time travel. But it's a pretty good guess."

"How long has it been here?"

"Well, this part is probably the most fascinating part of all. Judging by the rate of expansion, it looks as if the tachyon field has been on Cardassia for almost a month and a half. And do you know where it first originated, judging by the pattern?"

Damar scowled. He hated it when Garak asked leading questions like that. It reminded him of an old schoolteacher from his childhood. An old schoolteacher he hadn't particularly liked. "No, I don't."

"Well I do. Apparently, the tachyon field first came... from my dear friend Mila's basement."

Damar gasped, and noticed that Kira looked as surprised as he felt. "_We_ brought it here?!" Kira asked.

"How is that possible?"

"Oh, I don't know. But judging by reports I've received from other parts of the quadrant, we're not the only ones. A report that I believe may be of particular interest to the good Commander here is that Bajor has been experiencing earthquakes on a similar scale to the ones Cardassia has had." Kira's eyes widen, and her whole body seemed to tense up. "I took the liberty of asking Deep Space Nine for some information. Oddly enough, Bajor is the only other planet that has had earthquakes even remotely like ours. And where do you think their tachyon field is coming from?"

Damar thought for a moment, but the answer seemed obvious enough, at least to him. "Deep Space Nine."

"Exactly!"

"Wait a minute," Kira interjected. "If we brought the tachyon field, how come we haven't been affected?"

"Apparently, when tachyon particles come into contact with polaron radiation, the reaction happens gradually, and escalates exponentially. It's almost harmless to living tissue, but reacts unfavorably with various minerals that are commonly found in planetary crusts."

"So when the Dominion attacked the surface of Cardassia Prime with their polaron weapons..." Kira began.

"It started a chain reaction that's only going to get worse," Damar finished. "And that's why the area around Deep Space Nine has also been affected. All those battles with the Dominion must have left large risidual amounts of polaron radiation."

"So what are we going to do about this?" Kira asked. "If the tachyon radiation is coming from us, how do we get rid of it?"

"There's only one thing we can do," Damar replied. "The answers are on Deep Space Nine. We've got to find them there."

* * *

Damar leaned back in the chair, reflecting with gratitude on the USS _Valour_, which had lent them a runabout for their journey to Deep Space Nine. Garak and Kira were asleep in the aft compartment, but having spent almost the entirety of the first half of their trip asleep, Damar was feeling refreshed.

He was surprised, then, when he heard the door opened. He turned to see Kira coming out, looking just as exhausted as when she'd gone to bed. Their eyes met, and she looked away. "I couldn't sleep."

She sat down in the chair next to his and seemed to make herself busy with the console. Damar forced himself to look back down at his console. But after a few minutes of awkward silence, he just couldn't take it anymore. He stood up and began to pace, starting to say something a few times, but stopping himself. Finally, he decided there had been enough silence.

"Is this what you meant when you said you wanted to 'talk'?!"

"There's nothing to talk about," she replied, not turning to look at him.

"You didn't seem to think so a few days ago."

At that she whipped her chair around and stood angrily. "What do you want from me, Damar?! You want me to suddenly be in love with you?! I can't. I loved Odo. I can't just forget about him.

"So you kissed me. Hell, I may even have enjoyed it. But what does any of it mean? I don't know if I wanted you, or if I would have taken anyone! And when I think about Odo, and then I think about you, I... You know what? I don't know! I don't know if I love you or if I hate you, and I can't stand it!"

He leaned forward until his face was barely an inch away from hers. "I'm not asking you to love me. I'm just asking you to forget how much you hate me... just for a little while."

Her fiery, furious eyes softened a little. "I think... I think I may have forgotten that a long time ago."

Taking the little bit of encouragement she'd given, he leaned forward, allowing his lips to touch hers gently. He didn't want her to feel like he was forcing himself on her again, like last time. To his surprise, she grabbed his neck and kissed back fiercely. Maybe she would have taken anyone, but just then, he didn't care, as long as that "anyone" was him.


	23. Cause and Effect

A/N: Ok, guys. I am alive. Wow, it's been nearly three years since I updated. For those of you who really liked this fic, I'm sorry. I've always known where the story was going to go and how it was going to end, but when I wanted to write the next part, nothing really seemed to work. I would get new reviews from time to time or messages asking if I'd ever finish, and at those times I would go back and read what I had written. I would try to continue it, but nothing seemed right. Eventually I just kind of assumed that everybody had given up on me as much as I'd given up on myself, and that the story would probably never be finished. However, even now, 2 1/2 years later, I'm still receiving inquiries about whether this story will be finished.

This short update is a paltry offering after so long an absence, but it's kind of my way of saying, "Thanks for hanging in there, guys. I'm finally going to finish this thing." I had to watch some DS9 videos (including the AMV inspired by this fic that milkywaymidnight made) to get back into the spirit of the characters.

Anyway, to those of you who have been waiting for over two years, and to those of you who are just now getting in on the action... thank you.

* * *

Julian Bashir greeted Kira and the two Cardassians as they disembarked from the runabout. "Welcome back, Colonel."

"Thank you, Julian.," Kira replied, shifting her bag to her other shoulder. "How are things on Bajor?"

"They're steadily getting worse," the doctor replied grimly. "Commander Vaughn is waiting for you."

As Kira let Garak pass her so she could walk with Damar, Garak shot a knowing, smug look at his fellow Cardassian. Trapped in the confined atmosphere of the runabout for three days, Garak had been able to easily surmise what had happened between Kira and Damar that night. When the two Cardassians had been alone together, Garak had taken every opportunity to subtly prod Damar about it. And Kira had been pensive ever since, saying hardly a word to either of her companions. She seemed to be almost hovering around him, her silence following him wherever he went like his own personal snowstorm. Damar looked forward to being able to walk about the large space station without having to see either of them. He needed space to think and to breathe.

Kira fell into step beside Damar. He knew she wouldn't speak. Her eyes seemed fixed straight ahead. After a few minutes, Damar finally cleared his throat and said, "This can't be easy for you."

"Yeah, well, it's probably not a walk in the park for you either."

Damar hesitated, a bit confused. "No… it's a walk on a space station."

Kira's blankness swept off her face in a blink as life returned to her face. She glanced at him, her eyes containing a gilmmer of amusement. "Sorry, Damar, it's… it's an expression."

"Another human idiom," Damar concluded, embarrassed. The conversation trailed off as they stepped onto the lift with Garak and Bashir.

"We've traced the tachyons back to their point of origin," a graying, bearded officer who could only be Commander Vaughn said as soon as they stepped off the lift. Damar liked him already; he was all business. "Welcome back, by the way. I'm Commander Elias Vaughn," he said, barely looking up from the console he was leaning over. Something in his demeanor told Damar that Vaughn knew exactly who each of them was with no need for introduction. The commander had the air of one who was better-informed than most.

"Pleased to meet you," Garak replied, giving Vaughn a look of approbation and respect that the Cardassian reserved only for fellow intelligance agents.

Damar nodded slightly in acknowledgement of Vaughn's greeting. "Point of origin?" he asked, walking over to look at Vaughn's console. He didn't want to waste any time on pleasantries, not when Cardassia was at stake.

"Yes. It looks like the first tachyons we can trace began on Stardate 52645.7."

"That was the last day I saw Odo," Kira murmured. Damar glanced at her. Her face was blank again, but the pain in her eyes was unmistakeable, and it made him ache. He wanted so badly to hold her, but now was not the place nor the time. And who knew if she would even welcome it? Irritation itched at the back of his eyes. They had been through so much together but she was still a mystery to him, and something told him she liked it that way.

Commander Vaughn's tone took on an abrupt change. "What do you remember?" he asked gently.

"He asked me to leave. Said he didn't want the last thing he saw to be…" she choked a little, then took a deep breath and continued, "…to be pain in my eyes." Damar felt sorry for her, but at the same time he felt a twinge of jealousy that even in death Odo could still command so much love from her. He knew she had nowhere near the same depth of feeling for him… if she loved him at all.

"Do you remember anything… out of the ordinary?"

Her eyes flashed for a second. "Nothing about that day was ordinary," she replied, a bit sharply. Her eyes met Damar's, and she sighed. "Nothing out of the ordinary temporally, if that's what you mean."

Bashir had been standing nearby, brows furled and arms crossed in thought, absently rubbing his lips with the knuckles of his right hand. "I do," he said.

Vaughn turned to him, eyebrow raised. "Oh?"

"I think we should talk about this in your office, Commander."

When the doors of what had once been Sisko's, and, even more significantly to Damar, Dukat's office had closed, Bashir began, "One thing that you don't know, Commander Vaughn-that, in fact, only a handful of people aside from Captain Sisko and Chief O'Brien ever knew-was that after Kira left that night, I was visited by an old 'friend'... His name was Sloan.

"He was a member of a rogue organization called Section 31. This organization was willing to disobey Starfleet's most basic principles in the interest of protecting the Federation. One of the more atrocious actions they took to 'protect' the Federation was creating the disease that annihilated the Founders."

"You're saying Starfleet officers killed Odo?" Kira growled.

Bashir nodded. "This Sloan tried several times to recruit me to the ranks of Section 31. That last night, O'Brien and I tried to use Romulan mind probes to extract the antidote from his mind. But he died with that information still a secret, and we weren't able to save Odo, or any of the other Founders."

"An entire race... killed at the hands of the Federation," Garak said. "One must appreciate the irony."

"Those weren't the actions of the Federation," Vaughn interjected. "Those were the actions of terrorists. I was part of Starfleet Intelligence for years. I've heard of Section 31, but we've never been able to find them or any evidence of their existence. They're experts at subterfuge, very cloak and dagger. They go against everything the Federation stands for."

"So did the tachyons come from Sloan?" Damar asked. "Are you saying he was a time traveler?"

All were silent, deep in thought. "Well, Bashir? Is it possible?" Vaughn prodded.

"I suppose it is, but I'm not sure he was one..." Bashir paused to think for a moment. "I remember, at the very last moment, as his mind was falling apart around us, I was sure I'd nearly found the cure. But just then, I was pulled out of his mind involuntarily."

"Did the device break?" Damar asked.

"No," Bashir replied. "The only way to get out of his mind was for me to send a message to my hypothalamus to raise my blood pressure by 50%. I always assumed that he simply died, and that we were able to get out without any serious brain damage. But the tachyons have got me thinking... if someone knew exactly how to pull me out, it wouldn't be hard for a telepath, like a Vulcan or a Betazoid, to send the signal.

"Suppose in some alternate reality I found the cure. What if the Section 31 of that future sent someone back to that moment to stop me from getting it?"

"That would explain the tachyons," Vaughn replied.

"And since polaron radiation is an artificial phenomenon that we had never encountered until we clashed with the Dominion, Section 31 couldn't have known that the effects would be so disastrous."

"Speaking of disastrous," Garak interrupted, looking out at Ops, which had suddenly begun to bustle with activity. "I think something big just happened."

As if on cue, O'Brien's voice came over the intercom. "Commander Vaughn, you'd better get out here."

"What is it, Chief?" Vaughn asked as he stepped into Ops.

"The wormhole... it's collapsing!"

"Onscreen!"

The wormhole had opened, but rather than its customary blue swirling gravity fields, a lightning cloud surrounded the opening, shooting streaks of pink electricity half a light year in every direction. A bolt hit the station with a crashing jolt. The lights flickered on and off, and Damar grabbed a rail involuntarily. The wormhole wasn't just collapsing. It was imploding.


	24. Helpless

The chime wasn't working, so Damar knocked instead.

The power had been out for nearly thirteen hours, ever since the wormhole had imploded, nearly taking Deep Space Nine with it. The station's generators were completely fried. O'Brien had managed to scrape together enough spare parts to jerry-rig a generator for the life support systems. Except for life support, artificial gravity, and emergency lighting, the station was completely dead.

Kira's door was already half open. Damar assumed that she'd forced the door to her old quarters open just wide enough to squeeze in. He caught a glimpse of her looking lethargically to see who was at her door. "Come in," she said.

She was leaning against the bulkhead, arms crossed, staring out her window at the place where the wormhole should have been. Damar approached cautiously and took his place at the window, standing by her side, unsure what to say. For the first time in a while, she was the first to speak.

"You know what I hate the most about all this? How helpless I feel. If this was a natural thing or some kind of freak accident, it wouldn't be so bad. But to know that somebody did all this on purpose… that somebody _meant_ to kill Odo…" She glanced at Damar. "Sorry. You're probably sick of hearing about Odo."

"If it's what you want to talk about."

She smiled bitterly. "No, I don't want to talk about it. I'm sick of talking about it. I'm sick of thinking about it. I can't do anything about it, but I can't get it out of my mind." She closed her eyes and sighed, leaning her head against the wall. "I want to forget it all. Just for a little while."

"If there's anything I can do…" She opened her eyes; he looked back at the stars. "Let me know." He glanced at her; she was still looking at him. Her eyes were full of emotion, but he couldn't tell what kind of emotion, exactly. That scared him a little. He looked back at the stars. "I've never been a very sentimental man. So I'll be direct. I know if you had the choice, you would choose Odo. I would probably choose to be reunited with my family. But we don't have that luxury." He paused. "I feel more for you than I'd care to admit… perhaps more than you'd like. Certainly more than I'd ever thought possible. I know you don't love me; I don't care. Whatever happens, I'll stand beside you."

"You're wrong." Kira paused, probably just to raise his curiosity. He looked at her, unsure what to feel. Her dark eyes sparkled playfully. "That was the most sentimental thing I've ever heard."

"With a friend like Bashir?" he shot back, not missing a beat.

She chuckled. "Good point." Before he realized what was going on, she had taken his shirt collar and pulled him into a kiss.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, it's a short chapter. I'm getting back into the swing of things, getting back into the chemistry of these characters. Their interactions are so complex that I have to write scenes like this three or four times to really get the feel for the way the characters might actually behave, what they might actually say. It's not easy to write.

Just so you know, Chapter 25 won't be so mushy. :P


End file.
